Shotgun sight



Oct. 24, 1961 H. K. LOCKWOOD 3,005,263

SHOTGUN SIGHT Filed D80. 5. 1958 INVENTOR HENEY k. l OCK WOOD ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent Cfifice Patented Oct. 24, 1961.

I SHOTGUN SIGHT Henry K. Lockwood, Springfield, Mass., assignor t SavageArms Corporation, Chicopee Falls, Mass., a corporation of Delaware FiledDec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,481

9'Claims. (Cl.3347)- This invention relates to improvements in sightingdevices for shotguns and more particularly to sights of the typegenerally known in the trade as ventilated top ribs.

It has been a long standing practice to provide flat planar sightingmembers to establish lines of sight for shotguns. With single barrelshotguns, the sighting member positions the line of sight above thelongitudinal top center line of the barrel. In doublebarrel shotguns,the line of sight is longitudinally disposed between and above the twobarrels and for accurate shooting a sight ing member is a practicalnecessity.

This type of sight on a double barrel gun is generally known as a toprib. Usually in the manufacture of such guns the top rib comprises alongitudinally extending solid bar of generally rectangular crosssection. At its base the bar is welded or soldered to the two barrels toform an upper connecting web therebetween. With a lower connecting webjoining the barrels longitudinally thereof the barrel assembly is thus.fixed together. The top surface of the solid rib is then machined toform the sighting plane and while this construction has provided anadequate sighting means for double barrel shotguns, it has had certaindisadvantages. Some of the objectionable features are an excessiveweight factor due to the solid rib construction; difliculty in machiningan absolutely true planar sighting surface free of defects; heat wavetransmission from the sighting rib after repeated firing; and difiicultyin repairing a damaged sighting surface.

As a result of such disadvantages in the solid top rib of double barrelshotguns, a common practice arose amongv many marksmen to have agunsmith ventilate" the top rib. This practice of providing a ventilatedtop rib was expensive; It was accomplished by first milling down thesolid rib to a fraction of its former thickness and leaving theconnecting web portion between barrels, then fixing spaced supportsalong the upper surface of the reduced rib or web portion, and finallyfitting a thinner rigid bar on the tops of the spaced supports. Theupper surface of the rigid bar required machining to a true flat planeand a scored matting to provide a more or less non-reflective surface.

While ventilated top ribs of the type described above overcome many ofthe disadvantages of the solid rib sight, such as excessive gun weightand heat wave transmission, the cost of manufacturing a shotgun equippedwith a ventilated sight is extremely high and the cost of having a toprib converted from a solid to a ventilated type almost prohibitive.Furthermore, if the sighting plane of the top rib should become marredor damaged requiring repair, the job of machining and matting: a new toprib or of rem-achining or rematting the old top rib is costly, difficultand time consuming. Another disadvantage in the existing type of top ribsights is the tendency of the rigid top bar to become loose" with hardusage or with repeated firing of magnum loads.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a. novel sight forshotguns of the ventilated type which overcomes the. disadvantages oftop rib sights presently available.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel method ofmanufacturing shotguns with ventilated top rib sights.

The above and other related objects and advantages of this inventionwill be best understood from a reading of the following description withreference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of av barrel assembly of a double barrelshotgun embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the barrel assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale and partly in section ofa portion of the barrel assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is apartial section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 4-4of FIG. 2;.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of a single bar.- rel shotgunshowing an alternate mounting means em-v ployed in practicingthisinvention;

FIG. 6 is a partial top view of the sight support means shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 to 11 illustrate in progressive views a novel method for themanufacture of the sighting device shown in FIGS. l to 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawing and particu larly FIGS. 1 and 2,a barrel assembly 14 of a. double barrel shotgun is shown embodying thepresent invention. The gun includes a ventilated top rib disposedbetween and above the gun barrels and comprises a planar sighting member16 supportedon upstanding supports 17 which are longitudinally spacedalong the length of the gun. The upper surface of the sighting mem! betis matted or scored as indicated at T8 along its entire length, thusforming a generally non-reflective sighting plane.

While the upper surface of the sighting member 16' provides an adequatesight for the gun, additional sighting aids may be provided inaccordance with the preference of the individual marksman. One type ofaddi tional sighting aid for the gun is indicated by the beadsight 20located adjacent the forward end of the sighting member 16 and anotherbead sight 2?. located approximately at the center of the sightingmember.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sighting member 16 comprises anelongated bar 24 of rectangular cross section which is supported by thesupports 17 in a man: ner to be described below and a tubular strip 2.5incasing the bar 24. The bar extends generally the length of the barrelwithv its rear end spaced slightly forward of. the front end of thebarrel extension 32. The tubular strip 25 includes an upper wallportion, depending side wall portions and inwardly extending bottom wallportions. The bottom wall portions terminate in spaced alignedrelation.- ship defining a slot 26 which extends throughout the lengthof the strip. The strip 25 may be manufactured froma lightweightgenerally resilient material such as certain: types of plastics, sheetsteel or aluminum. In practicing this invention, it has been found thata sheet of No. 1020 steel of .020" thickness is suitable for forming thestrip- 25 since this material can be readily stamped with the sightmatting 18 and easily formed into the desired tubiu lar shape. The bar24 is formed of a spring steelof. approximately 1070 gauge and thesupports 17 are preferably in the form of studsthreaded into a web 27disposedbetween the barrels of the shotgun. As indicated in 4, the widthof the bar 24 is greater than the diameter of the supporting studs andthe slot 26 is of sufficient width. to receive the studs 17. The tubularstrip 25 is dimensioned to snugly receive the bar so the stripmay heslidonto the bar with the upper wall portion of the strip beingconstrained and held flat against the upper surface of bar. 24. Thestrip 25 is of a length to extend substantially the entire length of thebarrel and is held in place on the ban by means of a screw 28 threadedinto a fiat 30" of the barrel extension 32 and also by the lower portionof the bead sight 20 which is threaded into the forwardmost stud 17, asshown in FIG. 4. If a bead sight is not used, a flat headed screw may bealternatively used for securing the front end of the strip 25 on the bar24. The upper surface of the tubular strip 25 which is stamped with thematting 18 thus provides a non-reflecting sighting plane for theshotgun. Should this surface of the strip become marred or damaged inany way, the strip may be easily removed from the gun by simply removingthe securing screws and sliding it off the bar 24. A new strip may bereadily slid onto the bar to place the shotgun in readiness for instantuse. The cost of the tubular strip is low and therefore the replacementis easily accomplished and at a low cost. This simple replacement for adamaged sightmg plane is in sharp cotnrast to the repair or replacementjob required for the top rib sights now available in which a new top ribmust be machined, mattedand attached to the gun, or the old one repairedby remachining and rematting. It will, of course, be appreciated thatsuch a repair job is costly, difficult and time consuming, whereasreplacement of a strip 25 may be easily, quickly and inexpensivelyaccomplished.

An alternate embodiment of this invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 ofthe drawing. This alternate embodiment is a novel ventilated top ribsight for single barrel shotguns. The sight includes an elongated barmember 24' of construction similar to the bar member 24 heretoforedescribed. The bar 24' is supported along the top of a shotgun barrel 33by legs 34 which are integral with the bar. The legs 34 are punched fromthe bar 24 at spaced points along its center line and are of a widthless than the width of a slot 26' in a tubular strip 25. The strip 25'is of identical construction to the strip 25 described above for thedouble barrel shotgun. The distance from the edge of each leg to theadjacent side of the bar 24 is greater than the width of the inwardlyextending lower wall portions of the strip 25'. Thus the strip 25' maybe slid onto the bar 24' in a manner such as described above, with itsupper surface providing a sight plane for the gun. The legs 34 include aportion 35 which is angled downwardly from the bar 24' and a baseportion 36 which is disposed parallel with the bar 24'. The baseportions 36 of each of the legs are secured to the top of the gun barrel33 by welding.

To accurately position the upper surface of the tubular strip in thesight plane of either the double or single barrel gun, the upper surfaceof the bar is disposed parallel with the sight plane and offsettherefrom a distance equal to the thickness of the sheet material ofwhich the strip is formed. Thus when the strip is slidably engaged 'withthe bar and the top wall is drawn into planar engagement with the uppersurface of the bar, the upper surface of the strip is drawn and held inplanar conformity with the sight plane of the gun. With sheet steel ofNo. 1020 gauge, the upper surface of the bar member may be disposed inthe sight plane with the upper surface of the sighting strip beingdisposed substantially in the sight plane. The sight plane conformity ofthe bar member 24' is achieved for the single barrel gun by theupstanding portions of the legs 34 being punched from the bar 24 inpredetermined angular relationships with the bar, so that when the baseportions 36 of the legs are attached to the gun barrel, the uppersurface of the bar 24' will be disposed in the sight plane of the gun.For the double barrel shotgun, the studs 17 are provided with shoulderportions which are positioned parallel to the established sight plane ofthe gun. In conjunction with the double barrel shotgun sight, as shownin FIGS. 1 to 4, a novel method of manufacture will now be describedwith particular reference to FIGS. 7-1 1, inclusive.

The two gun barrels are first secured together in conventional fashionas shown in FIG. 4 by the upper web 27 and a lower web 37, it beingnoted that the upper web 27 is thickened centrally for receiving thethreaded portion 4 of the studs 17 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The accuracy of thebar rels is then checked and inspected and the surface is cleaned,coated and polished to a finished condition. The barrel assembly is thenplaced in a suitable fixture and at equally spaced points along thelength of the upper web 27 (which is slightly dish-shaped) flats arelocated as indicated at 38in FIG. 7. Centrally of the fiatted areas,holes 40 are drilled and tapped. The number of holes 40 is determined bythe number of studs which are to be mounted on the web 27 and. thisnumber is chosen to provide adequate support of the bar 24.

After the holes 40 have been drilled and tapped, a stud 17 is screwedinto 'each hole and secured therein against a lock washer 42. All of thestuds 17 are ofa height in excess of the tallest stud required in theassembly. Each stud is then faced off to a predetermined height so thatthe upper surfaces 44 (FIG. 8) of all the studs are then preciselydisposed in the sight plane of the gun or in a predetermined parallelrelationship if the thickness of the strip is taken into consideration.As seen in FIG. 9, the top of each stud 17, with the exception of thefront stud 17 (FIG. 4) is subsequently hollow milled to form a tip ofreduced diameter providing each stud with a shoulder 46 disposed anequal distance below the surface 44. The front stud is faced off toprovide a surface lying in the same plane as the shoulders 46 of theother studs 17. The member 24 is manufactured by machining spring steelstock to form a bar of rectangular shape with uniform thickness athroughout its length and by drilling holes 47 of tapered cross sectionat spaced points along the center line of the bar. The holes 47 arelocated to register with the studs 17. The bar is then placed on top ofthe studs 17 with the holes 47 receiving the tips of the studs. Thedimension a is selected to equal the distance between the shoulders 46and the upper surfaces 44 of all the studs so that the. upper surface ofthe bar 24 lies in the same plane as the upper surfaces 44. A smalltapered hole 48 is then drilled as indicated in FIG. 10 in the top ofeach stud 17 and the bar 24 is secured in place on the studs by spinriveting as indicated at 49 in FIG. 11. The strip 25 may be preformed ina separate manufacturing process by stamping a non-reflective matting ona portion of a strip of No. 1020 sheet steel and stamping said shee intotubular form with a slot in the bottom wall and the matting on the uppersurface of the top wall; The tubular strip 25 may then be slidinglyengaged with the bar 24 and secured in place as previously described. Itwill be noted that any strip 25 which is of proper length may beutilized for a given gun without requiring a fitting or alignmentoperation to adapt it to a particular gun. It will thus be appreciatedthat strips 25 may be preformed in a manufacturing operation independentof gun manufacture. Thus a sight plane strip may be cheaply replacedshould it become damaged or picked at any time and without fitting it tothe particular shotgun.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as novel and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shotgun sight comprising a plurality of spaced upstanding supportscarried by a gun, an elongated bar member upheld by said supports inspaced relation to a barrel of said gun, said bar member having a flatupper surface disposed in a plane parallel to the sight plane of saidgun, and an elongated resilient strip having a top wall portion,depending side wall portions, and a lengthwise slot disposed between thelower ends of said side wall portions for receiving said supports, saidstrip being slidably connected with said bar member, the top wallportion of said strip being drawn into planar engagement with the uppersurface of said bar, the upper surface of said top wall portion definingthe sight plane of said gun and havinga generally non-reflective mattingstamped thereon. r

2. A .shotgun sight comprising a plurality of longitudinally spacedupstanding supports carried by a gun, an elongated spring steel barmember upheld by said supports in spaced relation to a barrel of saidgun, said bar member being generally rectangular in cross section andincluding a flat upper surface disposed in the sight plane of said gun,the width of said bar member being greater than the transverse dimensionof said supports, and an elongated resilient strip having a top wallportion, depending side wall portions, and inwardly extending bottomwall portions terminating in spaced, aligned relation and defining aslot along the length of said strip for receiving said supports, saidstrip being slidably connected with said bar member, the top wallportion of said strip being drawn into planar engagement with the flatupper surface of said bar member and being formed of sufiiciently thinmaterial whereby the upper surface of said top wall portion is disposedsubstantially in the sight plane of said gun, the upper surface of saidstrip hav ing a generally non-reflective matting stamped thereon.

3. A shotgun sight as set forth in claim 2 above in which said supportsare in the form of upstanding legs integral with said bar member, saidlegs including a portion angled downwardly from said bar and a baseportion disposed parallel with the bar, the base portions of each ofsaid legs being secured to the top of the gun barrel.

4. A shotgun sight as set forth in claim 3 above in which said legs arepunched from said elongated bar at spaced points along the center linethereof, said legs having a width less than the width of said elongatedbar.

5. A sight for a double barrel shotgun having a web securing the barrelsof said gun together, said sight comprising upstanding studs screwedinto said web and disposed in spaced aligned relationshiplongitudinal-1y of said barrels, said studs including identical uppertip portions of reduced diameter defining shoulders on said studs, theupper surfaces of said studs lying in the sight plane of said gun, anelongated bar member having a plurality of holes disposed along thecenter line thereof receiving the tip portions of said studs and of adiameter less than said shoulders, said bar member being of uniformthickness throughout its length equal to the height of said tipportions, means for securing said bar member in place on said studs, anda sighting strip including a top wall portion, depending side wallportions and a slot disposed between the lower ends of said sidewall forreceiving said studs, said strip being slidably engageable with said barmember, the upper surface of said top wall portion being matted to makesaid strip generally nonreflective, said top wall being held against theupper surface of said bar member and being sufliciently thin so that theupper surface of said sighting strip is disposed substantially in thesight plane of said gun.

6. A shotgun sight comprising a plurality of spaced upstanding supportscarried by a gun, a bar member upheld by said supports in spacedrelation to a barrel of said gun and having a surface disposed in aplane in predetermined relationship with the sight plane of said gun,

6 a resiliently pliable elonagted strip removably fitted on said barmember, said strip being sufliciently pliable so that its upper surfaceis drawn into the sight plane of said gun when said strip is fitted ontosaid bar member, the upper surface of said strip providing the sightingsurface of said gun.

7. A shotgun sight comprising a plurality of spaced upstanding supportscarried by a gun, an elongated bar upheld by said support in spacedrelation to the barrel of said gun and having a planar upper surfacedisposed in a plane parallel to the sight plane of said gun, and anelongated resiliently pliable strip removably fitted on said bar member,said strip at least partially encircling said bar member and having anupper wall portion drawn into surface-to-surface engagement with theplanar upper surface of said bar, the upper surface of said wall portionhaving a matting and providing a generally non-reflective sightingsurface for said gun.

8. Method of manufacturing ventilated top rib sights for shotguns whichcomprises securing upstanding supports in longitudinally spaced relationalong the barrel of the gun, machining said supports to provide eachwith a surface disposed in the sight plane of the gun, mounting a barmember on said studs such that its upper surface lies in the sight planeof said gun, and fitting a preformed, resiliently pliable sighting striponto said bar so that the upper surface of said sighting strip is drawninto said sight plane, said sighting strip having a non-reflective uppersurface which provides the sighting surface of said gun.

9. Method of manufacturing ventilated top rib sights for shotgunscomprising the steps of securing supports in upstanding longitudinallyspaced relation along the barrel of the gun, machining said supports tobring the upper surface of each support into the sight plane of the gun,hollow milling each of said supports to provide shoulders disposed apredetermined distance below the upper surfaces of said supports,permanently mounting an elongated bar member on said supports, said barmember having a thickness equal to said predetermined distance so thatits upper surface lies in said sight plane, and removably fitting apreformed, resiliently pliable sighting strip onto said bar member, saidsighting strip having a cross sectional configuration at least partiallyencircling said bar member so that the upper surface of said sightingstrip is drawn into said sight plane when the sighting strip is fittedonto said bar, said sighting strip having a non-reflective upper surfacewhich provides the sighting surface of said gun.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,137,477 Godshalk Apr. 27, 1915 1,705,423 Smith Mar. 12, 1929 1,718,458Hager June 25, 1929 2,874,504 Martinek Feb. 24, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS482,325 Germany Sept. 11, 1929

